Written by: Andrew C. MacDonald

Any savvy real estate investor knows that keeping units rented is the first ingredient in the recipe for strong cash flow. It’s also no secret that some units rent faster than others, but why?

In a North American study, tenants ranked the importance of each of five factors in their leasing decision. Many landlords are surprised to see how these five factors rank in terms of impacting a tenant’s decision on which unit to rent.

How Tenants Choose a Rental Unit

There are 5 key factors which influence the leasing decision of a prospective tenant. Consider each of these items when purchasing and managing your own units and ask yourself a few questions from the perspective of the type of tenant you’d like to attract.

Source: Derek Lobo

1. Curb appeal (28%) – What is the general visual impression of the property when you first drive up? Does it look well maintained or run down? Does it look like a place you’d be proud to call home?
2. Common areas (28%) – In the case of an apartment building what condition are the common areas in? Is the lobby clean and well maintained? How about any hallways, stairways, laundry facilities and other shared elements?
3. Security / parking (22%) – How secure does the building feel? Do you feel at ease or is there a constant need to look over your shoulder? Would you be comfortable leaving your car parked overnight?
4. Apartment appeal (18%) – From the time you open the front door, what is your general impression of the unit? Is it clean and well maintained? Do doors, faucets and appliances work well? Does it look like the landlord cares?
5. Amenities (4%) – What features does the building offer? How does this stack up to the competition? What great amenities exist outside of the building but in the nearby neighbourhood?

What Landlords Can Learn

While the results of this study apply directly to apartment buildings, there are some important lessons for both single family and multi-family investors.

First impressions count. Over 80% of a tenant’s decision is made before they even enter the unit. This means it is important to make sure curb appeal (and common elements in a multi-family building) are up to par before fussing over suite finishes. If the property looks like it is ready to be condemned, having a suite with granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, oak flooring, and vaulted ceilings isn’t going to help as your prospect blows their showing appointment and speeds off to the next address on their list.

Once your curb appeal is up to snuff, focus on providing safe units your target tenants will be proud to call home and you’ll sleep well at night while the rents roll in month after month.

Whether by choice or by cause we all need to leave our parents’ house and move to a place we can call our own at some point. Moving out and living on your own apartment is a very exciting experience, but you must remember a few basic rules when looking for that perfect place.

1. Location, location, location – having an apartment in the right location can make your life a lot easier and far more enjoyable. For your first apartment, we at The Rentables highly recommend finding a place near your work or school, or at least close to a readily available method of transportation to save you time. It’s better to spend additional $100/month on rent to be within walking distance from your school or workplace than to spend the same amount of money plus several hours to commute each week.
2. Apartment to suit your needs – Evaluate your needs. Do you really need a one bedroom, or can you get away with a studio/bachelor apartment? Make sure you have enough space to fit most of your important belongings. A large kitchen with lots of counter space might encourage you to cook rather than go out. Look for enough closet space to fit all your clothes and hide your rarely used belongings.
3. Don’t go crazy with décor – we know where you’re coming from when you want to make your first place perfect, we’ve all been there. Remember that your first place is just that, and that usually that first apartment doesn’t belong to you. Spending a fortune to decorate your first place will likely end up being a waste. We highly recommend borrowing furniture from your parents and friends, at least for the first little while. Don’t go off buying that new TV until you are completely sure that it’s necessary. Most importantly, get used to paying your monthly rent for a few months so you can get a handle on your budget before you start spending. Moving into your first place can cost a lot more than you might anticipate.

Lastly, don’t forget to check out our Living in Small Spaces post, which can help you decide on your décor and make the most of a “cozy” unit.

Happy renting!

Providing fire protection equipment for your tenants not only can save their lives but also save you some money in the long run. For example, what if there was a fire in one of your rental units and your tenants did not have any proper equipment such as CO2 fire extinguishers or working fire alarms. Say they lost all of their belongings and now wanted to sue you. Or perhaps there was just thousands of dollars worth of damage to the unit. Although you would probably be covered by your own insurance, it will take weeks if not months to repair the fire damage, thus resulting in a loss of income for rent you would have otherwise had.

In the following article, we offer some tips for finding the best and most reliable fire safety equipment which you should make available in every rental unit.

Reliable fire alarms with carbon monoxide detection

You can choose either a smoke alarm / carbon monoxide detector mix, or just a carbon monoxide detector as a standalone alarm. Depending on the type of unit you are renting, you may want a combination of both for the best protection when there are multiple floors your tenants are on. Combination alarms are affordable with prices ranging from $30 to $70 and well worth the investment to protect both lives and property.

Fire Extinguishers

There are many choices of fire extinguishers available on the market today. This can be a little confusing to those who do not know what they are looking for. Just as there are different classes of fires, there are also specific fire extinguishers for each type. For fires dealing with materials such as clothing, paper, and wood, water based extinguishers or Class A type extinguishers are the preferred choice. CO2 fire extinguishers are a popular choice for use against both electrical fires and Class A or B fires. They are just not a good fix for workplace fires that could include chemicals. The cost of fire extinguishers can range from $30 to thousands of dollars depending on the size and class type you decide to purchase.

Common area fire safety equipment

If you are the owner or landlord of a large apartment building, you may want to invest in a sprinkler system, or a large water hose in a cabinet on the walls of each floor. This may have a cost more significant than a few CO2 fire extinguishers in a rental home, but if you are dealing with many lives, belongings, and a larger space they can be critical. Being properly prepared for a fire and providing the best equipment will make your tenants feel safe in your property and encourage them to stay longer. If you are unsure of what the best equipment is, conduct a simple search online or talk to a professional in your municipality on what is required, and what is recommended.

If you are a landlord who would like to offer the best fire protection services for your tenants, making a small investment in fire alarms and CO2 fire extinguishers is a small expense when you think of all the money, lives and stress that could be saved in the event of a fire. Show your tenants that you care more about their well being than their rent checks by installing the right equipment today and helping your tenants feel safe and secure.

Photo credit: loop_oh

If you received a list of unjustified damages or regular maintenance items, ask the landlord why they are asking you to pay for these things and you may find out that they are only trying to get you to move out early. If they have been kind to you and you’re willing to work with them, great. Otherwise explain that you’d be more than willing to move out early if they paid for the storage of your belongings and hotel accommodations until the end of your lease.

In the end, unless there are items on the list that have been caused by your own negligence and are not simply wear and tear, you shouldn’t have to pay. The landlord is unlikely to chase you for a few hundred dollars they know is  unjustified, and you shouldn’t be paying for regular wear and tear of the unit anyways.

New York, NY (Vocus) August 3, 2010

When renting out a unit, it can be difficult for landlords to estimate the going market rate. Given that rents vary based on location, unit type and a long list of possible features, it can be a challenge to determine rental rates. The Rentables (therentables.com), a website listing apartments for rent, has been able to provide a simple solution for landlords.

Andrew C. MacDonald, one of the founding partners explains: “We provide a map based rental search which allows landlords to see all of the available listings surrounding their properties. Available units can be filtered by building type, bedrooms, bathrooms, and a variety of common amenities. Essentially, The Rentables allows landlords to get a quick handle on the pricing for comparable rentals in their area. This valuable data helps landlords make intelligent decisions when setting rental rates.”

The Rentables has been actively working with landlords to make the rental listing process as quick and painless as possible. In the development of the feature rich website aimed to help tenants find their next rental, the firm’s owners found that landlords could use these same features to gauge market rents. This start-up encourages both tenants and landlords to try the website for themselves and provide feedback.

Incorporated in August 2009, The Rentables now serves thousands of visitors each month. MacDonald believes that traffic to the website will continue to grow at a rapid pace as more and more people continue to become familiar with the benefits that the site offers to both landlords and tenants.

Beverly Hills, CA (Vocus) July 28, 2010

The Rentables (therentables.com), an online apartment rental listing service, has been working closely with colleges and universities throughout North America to offer a useful resource for students seeking off-campus housing. Pavel Tchourliaev, one of the founders of The Rentables explains: “We have designed the website around simple filtering of search results in terms of location and pricing. Students can easily narrow thousands of search results to find those closest to their campus and then compare those units side-by-side within seconds. If a certain type of unit is not available, students can subscribe to a customized RSS feed based on their filter settings and receive instant notification as these type of units are listed for rent.”

Over the past year The Rentables has partnered with several large rental listing providers to combine available listings across North America. Potential tenants now have a “one stop shop” to find the exact type of rental they want. Schien Dong, another of The Rentables’ founders and lead developer at the firm states: “With our main focus being usability, we have integrated as much technical capability into the website as possible without sacrificing speed. We want to save our users time by giving them intuitive and powerful features.”

Most universities and colleges offer off-campus housing resources to their students, and by partnering with apartments for rent websites, school administrators have increased the relevance of the resources they provide.

The Rentables launched nationwide in July 2009 and has already helped over 50,000 landlords fill their vacancies online. Contact The Rentables to learn more about how you can provide a valuable new off-campus housing resource to your students free of charge.

Time and time again, we at The Rentables witness landlords saving a few dollars by buying 3 gallon buckets or drums of “beige” colored paint. Although you save a bit of money by buying paint in bulk, you are shooting yourself in the foot by deterring quality tenants when you slap on another coat of “renter beige”

Walls

Let’s face it, nobody really likes the stale generic look of  renter beige,  so do yourself and your new tenants a favor and paint your rental unit in a color that is more aligned with 2010 trends. To make it a little easier for you, here’s what’s hot these days in paint:

• Yellow has been the hottest color for the past two years and this trend is likely to continue. Paint several walls (or even just a single feature wall) in this color to give the unit a fresh, summer feel.
• Lavender is becoming very popular for bedroom paints, it’s elegant and luxurious, yet creates a feeling of comfort and warmth.
• Charcoal grey is a very neutral color, it can be paired with almost any other paint scheme and works great in a home-office.
• Aqua has been recommended by top decorators and is still in style for 2010.

If any of these colors are too bold for you, try doing just a feature wall which can add some interest to your unit without becoming overwhelming.

Baseboards & Ceilings

Paint baseboards and ceilings white to create a nice contrast and a clean look. This simple touch also creates the impression that the property has been cared for and is well maintained. We’ve all seen apartments with layers and layers of renter beige over top of just about every surface. Here’s an example of what not to do if you go with yellow:

Instead, use white to create some contrast:

Remember that by selecting modern colors and paying attention to the details like contrasting baseboards, you make your rental property more appealing. When you increase the appeal you can increase the rents, fill vacancies quickly, and keep quality tenants for longer periods as they are proud to call your unit “home”.

Preventative

There are a number of things that should not be flushed down the toilet. Educating your tenants with a good visual list will solve half of the problems. Here is a great list we at The Rentables made for you to tape to the wall in front of the toilet when new tenants move in:

Printable PDF version: Teach your tenants to unclog toilets | The Rentables

Preventing clogs is the best bet, but once they happen there are still a couple remedies any tenant should be able to try before making a call.

Plunger

Every apartment should have it’s own plunger. The cost is minimal, and with proper instructions you may never have to hear from your tenants about this problem. I prefer plungers with a wooden handle instead of plastic. Make sure you get a flange plunger because it properly seals around the edges and doesn’t shift around.

Make sure you explain to your tenants how to use the plunger even though it may seem quite obvious. Some points to remember:
1. There must be some water in the toilet/sink before using the plunger – water is a lot more difficult to compress and it’s water pressure that will clear the clogs.
2. Pulling is just as important as pressing, make sure to press all the way and pull back for 15-20 seconds at a time.
3. You will know the clog is gone when the water starts draining rapidly on it’s own

Drain Cleaners

If the plunger doesn’t work, provide them a simple off the shelf drain unclogging chemical. Explain that these chemicals are very bad for the environment and should only be used as a last resort. The chemicals used are harsh since they are are purposely designed to dissolve anything that is stuck in your drain. Remind your tenants to use gloves and be careful not to get these chemicals in their eyes.

Real Estate Investment Team selection criteria
As we’ve covered in each part of this series, here are 6 criteria to consider when selecting members for your real estate investment team. Look for professionals who:

1. Own investment real estate themselves
2. Care about your goals
3. Have the appropriate qualifications
4. Have specific experience working with investment properties in the area
5. Have reasonable fees
6. Provide positive chemistry

Team Members
Throughout this series we’ve covered the details on selecting a number of professionals for your team. These pros include:

• Mortgage Brokers
• Realtors
• Lawyers
• Home Inspectors
• Insurance Brokers
• Property Managers
• Accountants

As you progress in your real estate investing career, you are bound to work with several other parties to accomplish a variety of tasks. The good news is that you can still use our 6 criteria as an initial screen when seeking out new relationships. Whether you are looking for general contractors, painters, handymen, electricians, landscapers, administrative staff, or any other help, you can use the list as a starting point.

How to Find Quality Professionals
In each part of our series we provided details on how to find quality professionals. While there may be specific places to look for each type of contact, the local Yellow Pages or an internet search will provide an abundance of contacts in your area. The easiest way to narrow these names down is to ask for referrals from other investors or members of your team. Recommendations from fellow investors are more likely to turn up other contacts who own investment real estate themselves, and this creates a great foundation to establish a new working relationship. Referrals who are familiar with the rental business are more likely to share similar attitudes and are often more knowledgeable on topics specific to real estate investors.

Conclusion
While it may take some time to stack your Real Estate Investment Team with great professionals, having the right team behind you can make all the difference in your business. Having the right financial, property, legal, tax, insurance and operational advice can save you hundreds of dollars and hours by preventing problems before they arise. Work with competent professionals to ensure all of your bases are covered and your portfolio will grow faster while you sleep well at night.

Building Your Real Estate Investment Team Series:
Building Your Real Estate Investment Team – Part 1: Introduction
Building Your Real Estate Investment Team – Part 2: Selecting a Mortgage Broker
Building Your Real Estate Investment Team – Part 3: Selecting a Realtor
Building Your Real Estate Investment Team – Part 4: Selecting a Lawyer
Building Your Real Estate Investment Team – Part 5: Selecting a Home Inspector
Building Your Real Estate Investment Team – Part 6: Selecting an Insurance Broker
Building Your Real Estate Investment Team – Part 7: Selecting a Property Manager
Building Your Real Estate Investment Team – Part 8: Selecting an Accountant
Building Your Real Estate Investment Team – Part 9: Conclusion

(Vocus) July 13, 2010

In the competitive market of apartment rental listings, it can be difficult to stand out. A recent start-up, The Rentables (therentables.com), has taken a fundamentally different approach to providing these listings and has become a cutting edge competitor within a year of its launch.

Andrew C. MacDonald, one of four partners in the company explains: “As owners of income properties, we must market our own properties when vacancies occur. After using other online rental listing services, we realized that most existing rental websites are just not making the process easy and effective. The Rentables aims to make it very simple for landlords to post and manage ads for one or multiple units through a very streamlined process. We’ve spent hundreds if not thousands of hours designing the page flow to make our site as intuitive and fast as we can. There are some very neat features such as interactive filters and side-by-side unit comparison, which not only help tenants in their selection, but also helps landlords determine fair rents for their property.”

The Rentables gives landlords a choice of whether or not to create an account, keeping the posting process very quick. Landlords appreciate this approach and over 48,000 listings have been posted throughout North America. In addition to the listings posted directly to TheRentables.com, visitors can browse thousands more listings from numerous partner sites, which provides a comprehensive selection of rental properties for tenants.

“We have created a website that offers an improved experience for both landlords and tenants, and best of all, it’s free,” states Mr. MacDonald.

Incorporated in August 2009, The Rentables now serves thousands of visitors each month. Andrew believes that traffic will continue to increase significantly over the next six months as more and more people continue to become familiar with the benefits that the site offers to both landlords and tenants. Visit TheRentables.com to find your next apartment for rent online.